The invention concerns a device for the treatment of histological samples, comprising a treatment chamber and a means for supplying and removing treatment agents to and from the treatment chamber and with a controller for carrying out the treatment, including supplying and removing the required treatment agents.
A device of this type is disclosed e.g. in EP 0 969 277 A1. Such devices are used to prepare histological samples for microscopic examinations, wherein the samples removed for examination are subjected to a series of successive processing steps, such as fixation, e.g. in an aqueous formaldehyde solution, dehydration, clearing and infiltration with paraffin or another suitable wax. During dehydration, the fixed samples are treated with an alcohol reagent of gradually increasing concentration. During clearing, the dehydrated samples are treated once or several times with a clearing agent, e.g. xylol. The latter is an intermediate agent which facilitates removal of alcohol and subsequent introduction of paraffin, since direct replacement of alcohol by paraffin is not possible. Clearing also increases the contrast. For infiltration with paraffin (or another wax), the dehydrated and cleared samples are also immersed several times into molten wax. Only thereafter is the histological sample suited for processing with a microtome. Thin slices are thereby produced for examination under a microscope.
The above-mentioned conventional devices have one single treatment chamber which is divided into several chambers for receiving samples (EP 0 969 277 A1). The samples can only be filled into this single treatment chamber and can only be treated together. This procedure is normally followed by a program run in which the daily production is further processed overnight.
These methods fail to satisfy all requirements, in particular in the medical field, since different treatments must often be carried out or smaller amounts must be processed as rapidly as possible. Even if the above-mentioned device is designed for expedited treatment, usually only a small amount of samples must nevertheless be treated. This is normally the case with biopsy samples, which are suitable for rapid processing due to their considerably smaller size compared to that of other samples. Such small amounts do not usually fill the large treatment chamber, causing uneconomical processing. To avoid bottlenecks, i.e. when different treatments must be carried out or to avoid the above-mentioned uneconomical handling, several devices could be provided for different treatments, optionally having different program steps and different treatment chamber sizes. However, this would also be uneconomical, since several controllers and treatment agent supplying and removing units must be provided, maintained and filled. Moreover, many laboratories do not have the space required for several devices.
It is therefore the underlying purpose of the present invention to further develop a device of the above-mentioned type such that different treatments are possible with little economic expense.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in that at least one further treatment chamber is provided for carrying out treatment independently of the first treatment chamber, wherein the means and the controller also cooperate with the second treatment chamber.
The invention meets the requirement of economical treatment of small amounts of samples and/or different treatments of smaller or larger sample amounts using one single device, one controller and one means for supplying and removing treatment agents. The treatments may be carried out simultaneously or staggered in time. In the latter case, samples can be advantageously supplied to a treatment chamber while another or several other treatments are still running. The size of the treatment chambers can be adjusted to the amount and size of the sample charges to be expected, which advantageously saves treatment agent. The treatment chambers can also be adjusted to the samples to be processed or to different sample holders or can be optimised to certain types of treatment. All this can be realized with one device, one controller, one treatment agent supply, and optionally treatment agent stock which saves costs, space and effort with regard to maintenance and supply.
The following further developments of the invention contribute to the versatility of use of the inventive device and to its efficiency.